1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method to determine the position of a dental implant, which is fixed to the bone of the jaw of a person, in relation to said jaw, whereby an image is formed of the jaw or of a reproduction model of this jaw with the prosthetic element by means of X-rays or magnetic resonance (NMR).
2. Prior Art
More particularly, when manufacturing dental prostheses which are mounted on an implant in the oral cavity of a patient, the implant must be precisely positioned in relation to the jaw. This is particularly the case when one wishes to manufacture a superstructure for a dental prosthesis by milling it for example out of a chunk of metal.
However, the known techniques do not allow to determine the three-dimensional position of an implant in the jaw of a person in a simple and precise manner. It is not possible, for example, to form a sharp image with sufficient contrast of an implant in a jaw by means of X-rays. From such an image obtained with X-rays, the orientation and the position of an implant cannot be derived with great precision.